Easy Homemade Enchilada Sauce

December arrived and with it the specific chaos of having a three-year-old who has just discovered Christmas. Kai came home from preschool on Monday with a construction paper Santa that he had colored entirely in blue crayon because blue is his current favorite color, and he wanted to put it on the tree immediately except we did not have a tree yet, and the absence of a tree was a situation he needed to have resolved before he could move on with his life.

We got a tree on Saturday. Hannah and I have had the same annual argument about trees since 2011: she wants a real tree and I want a fake one, not because I do not care about the smell of pine but because the pipeline schedule during December is unpredictable and I do not want to come home to a dried-out fire hazard. This year Hannah won, which means she won more years than she has lost, which is accurate to our marriage in general. We got a six-foot Douglas fir from the lot on Sheridan and Kai decorated the bottom three feet exclusively, the way three-year-olds decorate trees, with everything crammed together and nothing near the top.

I started the Christmas tamale planning this week. This is a project I have taken on since Rosa taught me the recipe two years ago — the Christmas tamales, which are Rosa's mother's recipe, which came from a town in Chihuahua that Rosa's mother had not been back to since 1948. I need to start the dried chiles soaking a week out, source the masa from the Mexican grocery on Admiral, get the pork shoulder from the butcher on Peoria who gives me a good price because I buy venison sausage casings from him in October.

Hannah said, "You know you do not have to do the tamales. Terry and I could —" and I said, "I know," and that was the end of that. I do not have to do the tamales. I want to do them, because Rosa taught me the recipe, because they are Abuela Rosa's recipe in my hands, because the tamales are the thing at Christmas dinner that makes my mother close her eyes when she takes the first bite, because that is the only reason a man needs to cook something difficult and beautiful and time-consuming at Christmas.

The chiles are soaking. The project has begun. We have a tree. December has officially started.

The tamales themselves won’t be ready for another two weeks, but while the chiles were soaking I made a batch of homemade enchilada sauce — same dried chiles, same process of toasting and rehydrating, just a faster destination. If you’ve never worked with dried chiles before and the tamale project feels like too much to take on right now, this sauce is the place to start: it’s the same flavor foundation, the same patient work, and it comes together in under an hour. Rosa would approve of starting here.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 8 (about 2 cups)

Ingredients

4 dried ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
3 dried guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1/2 medium white onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon neutral oil (such as avocado or vegetable)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (Mexican oregano preferred)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Toast the chiles. Heat a dry skillet or comal over medium heat. Press each dried chile flat against the surface for 10–15 seconds per side until fragrant and slightly darkened. Do not let them scorch or they will turn bitter.
Rehydrate. Place toasted chiles in a heatproof bowl and cover with just-boiled water. Weigh them down with a small plate if needed. Soak for 15–20 minutes until fully softened and pliable.
Char the aromatics. In the same dry skillet, char the unpeeled garlic cloves and chopped onion over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until softened and lightly blackened in spots, about 6–8 minutes. Peel the garlic once cool enough to handle.
Blend. Drain the rehydrated chiles, reserving 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid. Add chiles to a blender with the charred garlic and onion, chicken broth, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. Blend on high until completely smooth, about 60 seconds. Add reserved soaking liquid a little at a time if the sauce is too thick to blend.
Fry and simmer. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Carefully pour the blended sauce into the hot oil — it will spatter, so stand back. Stir immediately. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 8–10 minutes until the sauce deepens in color and thickens slightly.
Finish. Stir in the apple cider vinegar. Taste and adjust salt. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve for a very smooth sauce, or leave as-is for more body and texture.
Store. Cool completely before transferring to a jar or airtight container. Refrigerates well for up to 1 week; freezes for up to 3 months.

Nutrition (per serving)

Easy Homemade Enchilada Sauce — The Chile-Soaking Season Has Officially Begun